Cundy, a lower leg amputee and C4 rider, had a problem at the start and commissaires ruled he could not restart, despite the pleas of his coach, Chris Furber, provoking an expletive-laden rant from the Briton. Officials argued the start was down to rider error, not an equipment failure.

Alfonso Cabello finished in a C5 world record of 1min 5sec 0.947 to claim gold with the world champion Jon-Allan Butterworth, who lost his left arm while serving in Iraq with the RAF in 2007, taking silver in 1:05.985, 0.038sec behind the Spaniard. The bronze went to China's Liu Xinyang.

Butterworth's time was beneath his previous best, the world record set in Los Angeles in February.

Both Britons were world champions in their respective classes entering the event, which was factored due to mixing classes, but neither came away with Paralympic gold at their home Games.